Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1887-02-18

no special act, ut all. 1t does not
hcn set forth facts constituting an OF
irn>r and hence cannot sustain Il con-
virtluu.
Fnurthly, the jury returned vrr-
diet Of guilty OF CARRYING on the >wind-
ling game oi twrnty-onr or top-and-
bottom dice" The words twenty
one" may qualify the words " top-and
bottom dice" or the reverse may hc
true. The judgment oi "guiliy' for
" top-and-hottom dice" only, though
not agreeing with the indictment or
verdict, may or may not mean the
that it is Il seeming attempt to escape
from the words twcnty-onc," which
would only amount to a misdcmcanor.
II the two terms mean thr same
thing, then The judgment indicates
that The misdcmtanor is to he pun
ishcd as a felony.
This but shows that the prosecutor
and court We're as ignorant aS myself
aS to the acts which would constitute
twrntv-onc" or iop-and-huttom
dice" They Were uncertain whether
the Two terms meant the same acts
or Il different set oi acts. All that
can he gathered with any certainty j.
that the prisoner is guilty of some
swindling game by which he cheated
Il person out Of money. BY what
process this swindlr WAS effected Is un-
known. There are swindlrS and
cheats at common l.,w which are i'll
dictahlc, and the class is we'll known.
and the facts constituting 'hc otlcnSc
may he set out in an indictment, but
this is not done in this ease.
Filthy, is Il married woman, liv-
ing with her husband, competent
grand Juror? If she is both an clrctor
and householder then She is cOmpc-
tent. If She lacks either qualification
then she is not.
First then, is She an clcctol? 1t
is admitted that she is not an elcc-
tor unless she is made So by the act of
1883. page 40. This act has II" title
unless the words and figures fol
lowing are one, to-wit: An Act to
amend Section $3.50 Of Chapter $50
OF the COuc ot W aSlllnItOn.
We have Il book which is marked on
the hy-lcaf - The Code of Washington
| have examined il and find that upon
its face it does not puluort 10 contain
any authenticated Act of the Lcgisla-
tive Assembly of the Territory OF
Washington. 1t purports To have
been edited and compiled by pri-
vatc party. 1t contains II" titles
to acts, no enacting clause, II" sig
nature of President of the Sen
ate, Speaker of the House, or Gov
ernor. 1t is not certified by the See
any Legislative Act. The chapters,
divisions and sections all purport to
he the act OF private party. His
sections run up To 1927, and i'll the
book is IN unauthcnticatrd provision
that Il certain private party shall pub
lish parts OF IL certain class of laws
which he shall deem to be general,
and leave ont certain part OF all acts,
and leave out entirely others. tlcccr-
titles that he has examined all the
laws embraced in the volume Ohr
Codc) etc, and put redundant matter
in parcnthcsis, and matters omitted
from enrolled laws but supplied by
him. are enclosed in brackets.
Now, it is clear that this books con
tains no act passed by the Legislative
Assembly, and it cannot be known Of
iirially what it does or not contain.
We suppose that it is this private book
that the Act of SS3purports to amend.
Acts of Il Legislature may amend
other acts of its own. An act cannot
amend the statutes OF the United
States, or of another Stale, or the
works of Il private author.
Such on attempt is simply void, and
beyond the legislative power. The or
ganic law OF the Territory provides
that "cvcry act of the Legislature
shall contain but one object, and that
shall be expressed in its title"
If one part of this provision is not
complied with, it is admitted an act Is
void. An act with or without II title,
might contain one, or more than one
objects equally well.
That there shall be title to such
act, and that the title shall express he
object, is entirely distinct from there
being but one object in bill. The
last provision is not peculiar t" our
Territory, but is i'll the organic laws
OF many of the States.
Its purpose and object has been de-
cidcd by many courts. 1t is stated Ill
late clcmctary authors. These author
tiles agree as to the purpose of this
organic provision.
The evil it was intended to remedy
was this: Legislators had departed
from the good old custom OF having Il
preamble to each act, reciting ut some
length the general purpose and OBJECT
of the act which followed. They had
departed also from another good old
custom OF having such bill read at
length in the hearing of all the mem
bers before they voted upon it,
1t had become the fashion 10 pass
ac,S by merely reading the title. Now,
as members only heard tine title, it was
of the utmost Importance that the
title should give, upon its face, the
general scope OF the proposed act, so
that each member might have notice
of what measure was before the house
| for his action.
1t wis also the fashion OF n.w>pa
perS to publish proposed act> by their
titles only. To obtain the surrrpti-
tiouS passage of laws (Which, if these
objects We're known would be defratrd
titles which gave II" notice 81 what
the acts contained Were used to pass
provisions unknown tothc l. 'gi>laturr.
This fraudulent practice became L
public evil of :" great Il magnitude
that constitutional provisions Were
matte to prohibit the practice. 1t WAS
thus provided that no act should be
passed without having a title which
expressed its object. 50 that when Il
hill WAS read or published by ti'lr
only, tn" title alone could give notice
il III, gen raj scope OF the act.
| There would hr no Use of a title that